Karen Mulder

Called “The Blonde With Class” by Vogue editors Karen Mulder is my favourite model of all times. Karen is Dutch and was born in 1968. Her career was soaring during the 90’s, in the era of glamorous supermodels. Out of the league of those stunning models Naomi, Claudia, Helena, Christy, Linda and also Tatiana Patitz, Nadja Auermann, Paulina Porizkova, etc., Karen has always been my favourite. First of all, she is a blonde. We all do have beauty ideals, and I like light hair. (That being said however, another one of my favourite models is Bianca Balti, there the comment about the hair colour is not discriminating in any way.) But the real reason I like her as a model, is because I like the all of the looks she was usually styled into and how she pulled them off. I will illustrate:

1) The Barbie look. This is the first look I absolutely adore! I don’t mean it in a bad cheesy way, instead, imagine a blonde, with long silky hair, dressed in beautiful, pastel colored satin shiny clothes and when you look at her you can only think “She looks like a doll!” See for yourself!

(Oh yeah… Prepare yourself, this post will be ENORMOUS!)

She can have her hair open or up in a beatiful bun or even a high ponytail. Lots of blush and usually nude pink lips, starry-eyed eyelashes. Distinctive as it sounds, not everybody can pull it off. In fact, now we come to the comment to the blonde hair. It is a fact, pastel pink doesn’t look as good on anyone else but blondes. To be honest, the rest look like wearing pyjamas.

She has amazing cheeckbones. And figure!

See! I told you! A living doll!

2) Now we come to the second look – the 90’s statement look. Remembers the 90’s fashion? The Gianni Versace shows with massive golden jewelry, bright busy prints or Herve Leger bandage dresses? Those were the times when a fashion show meant tonnes of make-up and huge pearls. I am not being ironic, I really do love the glamour of that style. It was the time when make-up guidance didn’t say emphasize either eyes or lips – it said emphasize both! The same goes for fashion. There were frills, sequins, beads, embroideries, laces, shiny stones…in evening wear preferrably all at once.

I just had to end this section with a picture of Guess ad.

Karen looks super cool with that cat-eye eye-liner and full lips. But, I love all of these ads Guess by Marciano , there are those with Anna Nicole Smith, Claudia Schiffer, Laetitia Casta… Many beautiful women can pull of that look, because they are so heavily made up and, of course assuming they have the body to fit into those clothes. But this next look I will illustrate, apart from the doll-like look, is the another favourite of mine.

3) Now we come to the point. The sophisticated look. After all, it was Karen and no other model that was called “The Blonde With Class”. She has this sophistication, which makes her convincing wearing a collar shirt or a suit, with impeccable elegance. She has amazing bone structure (face and figure) which makes her very stylish in a fitted suit. Also, her skin complexion, hair and eye-color is perfectly suitable for nude make-up ranges and beiges and yellows. But also, she could wear red lipstick to an everyday office job without looking a bit vulgar. (I doubt of course she ever had an office job). She is definately the right choice to advertise brands like Valentino, Trussardy, Cerutti, Armani as they all look really good on her. Just look at that – a true lady!

4) The next look is a typical “blonde-in-black” evening look, femme fatale so to say. Looks very effective/attractive, the kind of lady men turn to look at twice, right? ;) This look is usually accompanied by red lipstick or heavy black eye-liner. A bit boring, never-the-less…

This category also includes this kind of old school Hollywood Glam on-screen siren. Here she looks a bit like Kim Basinger in LA Confidential:

5) Once a person I know (who has impeccable taste and whom I trust blindly) said that white color does not suit everybody. To be honest, I have never thought that white is a color that can suit on not suit. So I started observing, trying to spot that something what I have been missing before.

As it turns out, white really does not suit everybody equally well. Think of it this way, the famous Sharon Stone accident when she spilled something on her dress right before the red carpet and ended up borrowing her then boyfriend’s white shirt, tied it around the waist with an evening gown skirt and looked like the most glamorous star of that night! So yes – trust me, white does not suit everybody equally well. (Not everybody will look good in hospital clothing ;) ). But oh-my-god Karen looks STUNNING and SENSATIONAL in white. She looks like she is the pearl herself! My theory is this is because there are different types of blondes and she definitely belongs to the cold, as opposed to warm, type.

So here it is, that special look – in white.

6) The next look is much more down to earth and reserved – the Scandinavian look. There is not much make-up and the hair is slick, well-brushed with a row on the side to emphasize the face shape and those gorgeous cheekbones. The clothing is minimal, simplistic and no bright or warm colors. You get the picture.

7) And last, but not least, let’s talk about the walk and posture. As I mentioned already, Karen has great figure.

Height

1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)

Hair color

Blonde

Eye color

Blue/Grey

Measurements

85-60-86 (CM)

You know how models have either their signature walk (like Naomi) or they belong to the school of walk (like the Brazilian or Russian), well, I love Karen’s runway walk and pose. If I ever need to draw Haute Couture pictures, I will be glancing for reference at her photos. She holds her back and neck amazingly, stiff and straight, yet with enormous sensuality and flirty element in her movement. No, she doesn’t move like a cat, which is usually being said about a sexy walk; instead she holds herself more like a swan, perhaps? There is this saying, “walk like someone is watching”. She does. In fact, she walks like she has a corset built-in into her body. In any case, I adore her Runway Haute Couture look. (Look at the bent back and the shoulders!)

Just look at the sparkle in her eyes here!

Finally, this post is about to finish. Here are the latest entries – few of Karen’s covers and close-ups. I told you – she looks like a doll!

Karen will have a birthday on June 1st – so she is well-deserved beauty of the month!

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2 thoughts on “Karen Mulder”

Dear Olesja, with all sincerity, I was so really impressed to read your post. The eloquence and passion with which you wrote it are absolutely adorable. I dare say that you did a genuine document. I also made a little trip back to 90’s aesthetic and atmosphere…

As you already had the opportunity to realize, I have a true, strong and innate passion for blondes, so your post is a gift. My admiration for your personal taste is so real :-)

By the way, do you know that many people born in June are lovely also?